


The Best Thing That I've Got

by HongBining



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Parents, Domestic Fluff, Family Fluff, Fluff, Implied Mpreg, Kid Fic, Light Angst, M/M, Mpreg, Non-Linear Narrative, Parent-Child Relationship, Post Mpreg, Texting, but they're all still bffs and whatnot, if you squint you can see some ot3 jihancheol, junhui works with some weird people, kind of but not really, like a LOT of fluff man, parents! junhao, post svt, side ships eventually wE WILL SEE, they really do just love each other a lot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-28
Updated: 2018-06-25
Packaged: 2018-09-13 00:07:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9096559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HongBining/pseuds/HongBining
Summary: Glancing over at his husband and his children, Minghao smiles to himself, and can’t help but wonder how he’d gotten so lucky as to be blessed with his beautiful family of four.





	1. Time to wake up!

**Author's Note:**

> here we have this writing as a result of my innermost desire for a junhao family AU.  
> i sort of have a plan for how this will go, but for now enjoy a morning in the life of minghao and jun with their two lil kiddies!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which junhui and minghao experience a typical morning with their two kiddos, who take the time to ask the Real Questions ™

Saturday mornings were the best mornings, especially in the Wen household. This usually meant sleeping in, cooking extravagant breakfasts, watching the morning cartoons, you name it. It was the perfect setting. A beautiful winter day, in fact. The sun was peeking in slightly through the blinds. Snow was probably falling. Birds were chirping outside the windows, supplemented by the occasional honking of cars on the road below them.

Minghao wakes up slowly, feeling the warmth of his husband’s arms wrapped gently around him. He sighs happily at this realization, and is even more content when he remembers that hey, it’s a _Saturday_ , no work today. Him and Junhui can enjoy some well-deserved peace and quiet in their bedroom.

This peace and quiet lasts a total of five minutes. Soon enough, Minghao hears the familiar sound of little footsteps running towards their bedroom. They gradually get louder and louder, and are soon followed by yet another pair of even littler footsteps. The noises stop. Minghao knows they’re standing directly outside their door.

“Are Daddy and Baba awake yet?” a tiny voice asks from outside the door.

Another little voice scoffs. “I don’t know, Chunhua, I’m not some---Daddy and Baba _expert_!”

Minghao sighs and reluctantly untangles himself from Junhui’s sleepy embrace. He sits up in the bed and stretches his arms out, trying to wake himself up.

To his left, Junhui stirs, aware the fact that Minghao has removed himself from him, and he groans miserably.

“Hao,” he calls sleepily. “Come back.”

Minghao leans back down and presses a kiss to the top of Junhui’s head.

“The kids,” Minghao mumbles into his hair.

Junhui emits a groan and rolls over, pressing his face into his pillow. Despite such little context, he knows exactly what those two words imply.

Minghao could never wrap his head around the fact that his own kids could wake up so early in the morning, considering neither him nor Junhui were morning people.

“Five more minutes,” Junhui whines, his voice muffled by the pillow.

Minghao begins to shake his spouse awake.

“ _Juuuuuuuuuuuuuun_. Please get up.”

From outside the door comes a small gasp, followed by:

“Renshu! I hear them talking! They must be awake!”

Minghao could hear some incoherent chatter between the kids. He attempts to decipher what they were saying, when he finally hears, very clearly:

“Okay, okay, count of three, Chunhua, one two--”

“ _THREE_!”

The door bursts open. They come in shrieking what sounds like a battle cry. Chunhua is the younger one by two years, dressed in her Minnie Mouse pajamas with her hair in two little pigtails Junhui had tied for her last night. She comes sprinting in as a running start so she could jump on top of Minghao's legs.

Minghao lets out a yelp upon impact and musters a strained“AAaAaAAAH gOOd mOrning hONey,” in between her jumps. For a three year old, his daughter could bounce with quite some vigor.

Between giggles, Chunhua replies, “Teehee! Good morning Baba!”

Renshu, aged five, has somehow kept his toy lightsaber in his dinosaur pajama pants and begins to forcefully whack Junhui with it (“Come on Hao, what’s the worst that could happen if we buy this for him?”) who was still engulfed underneath the sheets.

“WAKE UP DADDY!” Renshu shouts in between swings of his lightsaber, his small head of black hair swishing back and forth. 

Startled, Junhui sits up, swatting his hands in front of his face. He attempts to snatch the toy away from Renshu, but unfortunately their son has the agility of both him and Minghao combined, therefore making this task impossible (especially at 7:30 in the morning).

Chunhua is still bouncing excitedly on Minghao. Renshu will not stop whacking his daddy with the lightsaber. It was chaos; the lesser appreciated aspect of Saturday mornings, but nevertheless, Minghao found it endearing.

He knew that one day, their kids would grow too old for these shenanigans, so he knew it was best to appreciate the little moments as they came before the day came where it would all just stop.

“Renshu,” Junhui scolds, stifling a yawn. “Honey, put the lightsaber down.”

“Okay,” Renshu complies, throwing the toy on the ground before pulling Junhui into an embrace.

“Get up, Daddy!” he pleads, shaking a sleepy Junhui slightly with his small body pressed against his chest. As if they’d planned it that way, Chunhua ceases her bouncing to do the same. Her tiny arms barely fit around Minghao’s waist as she gazes up at him with eyes that are all too similar to Junhui’s.

“Last night you said you would take us to the park today, Baba! Remember?”

Minghao chuckles slightly, glancing over at Junhui who still appears half dead with his disheveled hair and his oversize pajama t-shirt draping slowly off his right shoulder. He lets out a huge yawn, and it reminds Minghao of those lions roaring in that nature documentary he’d watched with Renshu the other day.

Minghao doesn’t recall making this promise that former evening. Still, he says, “Oh yeah, that’s right! Honey, you’re _always_ right, we will go to the park today, _yes_ we will.”  
He looks over at Junhui, hoping his unnecessary babbling to the kids would somehow get him to wake up.

“Which is why,” he says, nudging Junhui’s leg from under the sheets with his foot. Junhui startles, blinking rapidly.

“What?”

Minghao manages to nudge Chunhua off him and get out of the bed. He stands proudly like a father should, about to say something to make his kids happy.

“Daddy is going to make us breakfast, and after you two get changed, we’ll go to the park!” he announces.

Renshu and Chunhua look at each other with the biggest smiles across their faces. They let out a “YAY!” before climbing off their dads and making their way to the kitchen.

Once they’re out of the room, Junhui shoots Minghao a death glare before finally rolling out of bed.

They’re standing face to face now, Minghao trying to conceal his laughter at the fact that Junhui looks both cute and deadly at the same time.

“I cooked breakfast last Saturday. It’s your turn,” he sings, leaning forward to press a quick kiss to Junhui’s lips.

Junhui grumbles, still not out of his sleep deprived induced state. He lets out a sigh before pulling on his robe and making his way out of the room. He leans against the doorway, waiting for Minghao so they can properly greet the kids in the kitchen together.

Minghao finds one of Junhui’s oversize sweatshirts and he pulls it over his head. He meets Junhui face to face in the doorway again.

“Wearing my clothes again, I see,” Junhui comments, giving Minghao the once-over. He scoffs, “It’s like, you’re _obsessed_ with me or something.”

Minghao rolls his eyes. “Yeah, it’s not like we’re _married_ or anything,” he responds.

Junhui laughs, leading the way to the kitchen as Minghao playfully slaps his butt.

The rest of the morning is spent with Junhui is cooking pancakes as Minghao puts on some music, leading to an impromptu karaoke session. The songs of choice today just so happens to be the title songs of their former band, Seventeen. Chunhua and Renshu sing along to Adore U and Very Nice from the dining table as Minghao does his best to rap all the rap parts and sing all the harmonies with Junhui, who was preoccupied at the stove.

Minghao and Junhui still live in Korea, despite Seventeen having left the Kpop industry almost a decade ago. Though they considered moving back home to China, something inside both of them made them feel inclined to stay; probably because Seventeen was such a huge part of their lives, and also because they still had the occasional interview or music show emcee gig when needed.

Renshu and Chunhua attend school in Seoul; in terms of language, Junhui and Minghao decided it’s best that their children communicate with Mandarin in the house, and Korean basically anywhere else (mostly with their 11 uncles, who they saw quite frequently). And it’s all worked out well, much to Junhui and Minghao’s relief.

“Baba?” Renshu asks from his spot at the table across from Minghao.

Minghao glances up from his newspaper. “What’s up, dude?”

Renshu fondles his toy truck in his hands as he bops his head slightly to Mansae playing in the background. Minghao looks at him, waiting for his question.

Renshu tilts his head slightly. “We’ve heard these songs so many times, like _thiiiis_ many,” he says, stretching his arms out like a wingspan. “And you and Daddy don’t sing much.”

From the kitchen, Junhui lets out a guffaw.

Minghao clicks his tongue, wondering where this sudden curiosity has come from.

“Yeah, Baba, why do you and Daddy only sing _thiiiis_ much?” Chunhua asks, her tiny thumb and index finger pressed together to emphasize how small of a size she was trying to convey.

 _How cute_ , Minghao thinks as marvels at his daughter’s descriptiveness. He ponders how to respond to a question that even he, after all these years, doesn’t quite know the answer to.

“Don’t you wish you could have sung more with uncles?” Renshu tacks on.

Minghao sputters, “Umm, well you see---.”

“Well, you see here kiddos,” Junhui says, emerging from the kitchen with a full stack of pancakes. “Me nor Baba really knows why they didn’t give us more to sing.”

He sets the pancakes in the center of the table. He makes his way to stand next to Minghao’s seat and places his hands on his shoulders.

“But, it’s okay,” Junhui says. “Even though you might not hear me or Baba that much in these songs, they still mean a lot to us. Because we performed those songs with our bandmates, your uncles, who we love and care about very much, and that time has meant the world to us.”

Renshu and Chunhua exchange a perplexed look. “Oh,” they both say, returning their attention to their toys.

Junhui and Minghao shrug, not too surprised for the kids’ quick change in interest.

“I don’t really remember, but the songs later on, we got to sing more, right?” Junhui questions, looking down at Minghai for answers.

Minghao gazes up at him and nods. “Yeah, that’s how I like to remember it,” he says. He gets up out of his chair slightly to give Junhui a kiss.

From his peripheral, Minghao can see Renshu making a face of disgust and he can hear Chunhua saying, “Yuck!”

Their faces are millimeters apart as Minghao coos, “Thanks for making breakfast.”

“No problem,” Junhui winks, pulling out the empty chair from next to Minghao and taking his seat. “Alright everyone, dig in, and then we’ll get ready to go to the park later!”

“Woohoo!” shouts Renshu, forking a hefty serving of pancakes onto his plate.

Chunhua squeals delightedly as Junhui leans over to help her cut her pancakes.

“Syrup, please!” Chunhua says to Minghao, who gladly pours it over her now bite-sized pancake pieces.

Breakfast is filled with endless giggles and laughter. Junhui tells the kids corny jokes and Minghao rolls his eyes at every single one of them.

Once it’s over, Renshu and Chunhua sprint to their rooms to get ready for their day at the park. Junhui and minghao quickly clean up to try and match the pace of the kids, and in less than 20 minutes, everyone is changed out of their PJs and ready to leave.

Well, almost.

Before they go, Junhui and Minghao are frantically scurrying around the house trying to find Renshu's winter beanie and Chunhua’s favorite pair of mittens; it’s practically as chaotic as that morning’s violent wake up call.

At long last, they’re out of the house and making their way to the park. On the sidewalk, they look like a family who’s stepped directly out of a fashion commercial. Junhui takes Minghao’s right hand and Chunhua’s left, while Minghao has Junhui’s left hand and Renshu’s right.

Glancing over at his husband and his children, Minghao smiles to himself, and can’t help but wonder how he’d gotten so lucky as to be blessed with his beautiful family of four.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> contrary to popular belief, minghao is actually a very affectionate spouse and father  
> renshu and chunhua are actually really articulate for two toddlers. which is not very surprising considering their dads r basically geniuses lol  
> renshu means 'benevolent forebearance' and chunhua means 'spring flower' which i thought were both lovely names  
> stay tuned for the next chapter where i, hongbining, will most certainly include more  
> ☆.:*・ characterization.:*・°☆.。


	2. It's a yes (pt. 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Minghao can’t exactly pinpoint when he started caring so much about having a baby, but it was probably because of Junhui.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this takes place some years before the birth of renshu, their first born!!
> 
> junhui reveals himself as a bit more of a dramatic here, and minghao is honestly so done with it (they still love each other though so it's all good)

“Alright, I’m off,” Junhui announces as if he were addressing an entire audience and not just Minghao, who was sprawled out on their sofa watching the Saturday drama reruns.

“Okay,” Minghao calls, eyes glued to the TV. “Have fun.”

“Yeah, I’ll try, you know doctor appointments can get _super_ wild,” Junhui remarks.

“Haha, yeah...you got that right. Welp, see you later, babe.”

Minghao hears the door open, figuring that Junhui would just leave and be on his merry way to his doctor’s appointment (which, mind you, he was already five minutes late for).

But, knowing Junhui, that’s less than ideal for his standards. Instead, he hears a loud sigh come from his partner, followed by a melancholy, “Well, I guess I’ll just, _leave_ , with no parting affection _whatsoever_ from the man I am bound to in a domestic partnership with.”

 _Jesus Christ._ Minghao lazily reaches for the remote on the coffee table to mute the TV. He looks up to see Junhui leaning coolly against the doorframe, his arms crossed and his eyes gazing up at the ceiling.

“Okay fine,” Minghao huffs. He gets up from the sofa and ambles over to the door.

Once he’s there, Junhui pretends for a moment not to notice his presence. He looks around before finally locking eyes with Minghao.

Junhui gasps. “Well well _well_ , fancy seeing you here, babe!” he exclaims. He squishes Minghao’s cheeks with his hands.

“You looked pretty cozy on the sofa there, didn’t think we’d get to meet like this!”

Minghao groans, swatting Junhui’s hands off his face.

“Oh my _God_ , you’re such a _dork_ , do you want me to kiss you goodbye or not?”

“Well, _duh_. Of course I do! Lay it here!”

MInghao rolls his eyes and quickly pecks Junhui’s lips.

“Now go!” he demands, pushing Junhui out the door. “You’re going to be late!”

Junhui complies and rushes out. Once he’s halfway down the hallway, Minghao calls out from the doorframe, “Love you!” to which Junhui responds, “Love you too!”

And with that, Minghao is alone in the apartment. He closes the door, sighs, and makes his way to the dining table so he can get some work done.

Minghao and Junhui have managed to stay tied to their jobs as performers, somewhat. Junhui works as a drama teacher down at the city high school, hired on the spot once they’d found out about his experience as a child actor back in China and doing a couple of dramas in Korea.

Minghao works as a dance instructor at the local hip hop studio, and he was trying to choreograph a routine for the class he had to teach that following day.

He had his pencil and paper out, but no inspiration was striking. The page was doomed to blankness. He wondered if it was because he was thinking too much about Junhui’s doctor appointment and the news that had taken the world by storm just a week ago.

________________________________________________________________

 

It was a Wednesday evening. They were lounging on the couch. Minghao had his arm draped around Junhui, whose head was nestled comfortably in his chest. Together, they managed to fit snugly under a huge fleece blanket that his mother had brought him as a housewarming gift when they first got the apartment.

 _“...the same conditions as female pregnancy. The hormones, morning sickness, contractions, you name it,”_ the biologist on the TV explained as if he were speaking about the weather. _“There have been several reported male pregnancies as of this past year, all with success and healthy, beautiful children."_

 _“And what do you recommend for the male population wondering if they might be able to carry children?”_ asked the news reporter.

_“Check with your doctor. As of right now, the hospitals and offices throughout Korea are equipped with proper technology to determine this likelihood, if you are to ask for a male-specific fertility exam.”_

The news reporter nods. _“Very well. Thank you, Dr. Yoo.”_

The news cuts to commercial.

Minghao turns to Junhui and says, “That’s pretty neat, huh.”

Junhui answers, “Yup, definitely.”

  
“So...do you think there’s a chance for us?”

“I mean, _maybe,_ but they said---wait, hold on.” Junhui springs off the sofa with urgency and crouches down in front of Minghao. He puts his hands on his thighs, locking eyes with him.

“Were you, Wen Xu Minghao, expressing interest in having a baby?”

Minghao nods slowly. Junhui lets out a squeal of delight.

“WOW! For the first time in---the first time ever, this is the first time you’ve _actually_ told me you _actually_ might want a child! Have you been thinking about it?”

“Well, you never shut up about it. You always say things like, _‘oh Hao, this apartment is so quiet! If only there were more people here, tiny, adorable people!’”_

Junhui nods, acknowledging that this is true.

“But, then I really thought about it,” Minghao reflects. “Like, in accumulation, i’ve probably spent a good month thinking about it.” He turns to face Junhui, who’s sat down next to him, and reaches out to squeeze his hand.

“And?”

“And, I think I’m beginning to understand why it appeals to you so much. And basically, what I’m trying to say is that...well, is that…”

Junhui is leaning towards him now, anticipating what he’ll say next.

“Is…?”

“...is that I sort of want one, too,” he states proudly, a small smile spreading on his face.

Junhui looks as if he’s in tears. He throws his arms around Minghao’s neck, and Minghao wraps his arms around Junhui’s waist. Seeing the emotional reaction of Junhui just finding out he’d even agree to have a kid was enough to make him start to tear up, too.

“Let’s just hope that we can,” Junhui murmurs into Minghao’s shoulder.

MInghao nods, pulling Junhui in closer to him.

“That’s right. Let’s just hope.”

________________________________________________________________

 

Junhui’s doctor’s appointment had been treated like any other doctor’s appointment. A regular checkup that most certainly did not involve a test to determine the likeliness of carrying a baby.

The moment Minghao booked him his appointment and asked that Junhui have the male-specific fertility exam, the two swore to silence over that matter until the appointment was actually over and they had something to be extremely thrilled or extremely disappointed over.

Either way, Minghao was extremely anxious. A couple of hours had passed, and he has yet to hear the familiar noise of rummaging and dangling keys and the eventual sound of the door opening. All he wants to know in this moment is whether or not it’s possible. He’s able to concentrate on work for a full ten minutes. The first few steps of the choreography are successfully mapped out, but soon after his thoughts inevitably regress.

Minghao can’t exactly pinpoint when he started caring so much about having a baby, but it was probably because of Junhui. Each time the word ‘baby’ was even mentioned in passing he had this sort of sparkle in his eyes and a passion in his voice when he spoke of wanting a family. That was probably what got through to him.

Suddenly, the familiar sound of the keys jangling begins to echo throughout the apartment. This could only mean one thing. Minghao takes a deep breath.

The door opens and it’s Junhui, obviously, because who else would it be? He enters wielding a handful of groceries, which he sets down on the kitchen counter right next to the doorway.

“Ah, there we go,” he huffs, setting down the final bag. He turns to look at Minghao.

“So, uh, how’d it go?”

“Uhh, you know, same ol’, same ol,’ the doc said that my health is tip top as always. I mean, sort of, he told me I should be eating less dairy because I _may or may not be_ lactose intolerant, which is new, and kinda sucks because ice cream is delicious. But otherwise I’m good.”

Minghao nods intently. He’s waiting for him to drop the news he’s been waiting for all day.

“And, what else?” he asks carefully.

“Hm, let me see,” Junhui ponders, scratching his chin. “What else, what else. Well, my blood pressure’s fine, I haven’t grown at all, weight is fine, am I missing anything?”

He’s just beating around the bush at this point. Typical.

Minghao blurts out, “Did you, um. Did you take the test?”

“Yup. I did,” Junhui affirms.

He makes his way to the table where Minghao is standing.

His knuckles have turned white from gripping at the table edge. “So, what’s the verdict? Can you? Or can you not?”

“We took the test. The results didn’t come in for like, a while, I don’t even recall how long,” he explains. “Then the doctor finally came back, and--”  
“And??”

A small grin forms on Junhui’s face. Minghao can see a glimmer in his eyes. He already knows the answer before Junhui even says it.

“It’s a yes, Hao!” he declares, throwing his arms in the air. “It’s a 100%, _confirmed_ , _yes!_ ”

Minghao lets out a whoop, and the midst of his excitement, he lifts Junhui up in the air and twirls him around. They fall to the floor in a fit of laughter, rejoicing in this new, miraculous, breakthrough.

Once they’d calmed down, they resorted to lying on the floor for a while, staring up at the ceiling.

“So,” Junhui says, reaching over to lightly squeeze Minghao’s hand. “I guess we both know what happens next.”

“Oh, yeah,” Minghao realizes. “I kinda forgot about that. That part. Which is quite essential. To having a baby.”

Junhui sits up, and glances down at Minghao, who’s still lying on the floor.

“In that case, I propose that we celebrate this fantastic news together,” he winks, picking himself off the ground.

Oddly enough, even though Minghao was still on the ground and he was basically staring up at Junhui from the most unflattering angle possible, he still looked otherworldly. Minghao feels himself getting excited.

Junhui smirks. “This goes into effect right now. In our bedroom.” His voice trails off as he rushes down their hallway.

“Sounds good to me!!” Minghao complies as he springs off the floor with a bit too much enthusiasm. He trails after Junhui excitedly, knowing 100%, _confirmed_ , what was going to happen next. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)junhao gets spicy( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
> 
> an immediate update, i know, i know. sadly i won't be on winter break for much longer :( but please stay tuned for part 2!


	3. Don't say "shindig"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Junhui wants to go to a shindig for the evening but Minghao is too worried about leaving their kids and also they really love each other a lot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey!! it's been months since the last update, and originally i was going to continue off of the last chapter but we'll save that for another time! i hope you enjoy the latest installment of these Cool Young Parents

“Hey Minghao, are we free this Saturday?” Junhui calls from his seat on the sofa, turning to face towards the kitchen where his husband was sat helping Renshu with his homework.

 “Uhhh. I don’t know,” he replies, unsure because the last time they had truly been “free” was five years ago, way before the kids were even in the picture. “Why do you ask?”

“Oh, it’s just that Lianne is hosting a little shindig Saturday night, and I just got the e-vite now.”

 Minghao quirks an eyebrow. “First of all, please never say shindig again,” he tells Junhui, who rolls his eyes in response. “Second, who is Lianne?”

 "Lianne Wang.” Minghao still looks confused, so he clarifies: “The head of the theater department at the high school.” 

“Oh.” He turns back to Renshu to help him with a problem.

“She’s always wanted to meet you,” Junhui adds on. “We always talk about you and your dance showcases.”

“Oh, well, uh,” Minghao blushes. “That’s, uh, that’s cool.”

“Is it a party?” Renshu asks excitedly, looking up from his math homework.

“Yup,” Junhui says. “But you and Chunhua would have to stay at home. Only Baba and I are invited.”

Renshu’s face falls. “Aw man,” he sighs, sadly averting his attention back to his worksheet.

Minghao pats his head. “It’s okay honey,” he says.  Thinking of what more he could possibly say, he goes with: “One day you’ll be an adult too and you can come with us!” He immediately cringes; surely he could have offered a better condolence but it works (the last thing he wants to think about is his five year old turning into an adult). Renshu brightens and nods happily, finishing up the last of his addition problems before scampering off to his sister’s bedroom so they could play tea party together.

“I feel bad,” Minghao says as he joins Junhui on the couch. “He really hates being left out of things.” He turns to face him. “Remember when he got upset that one time ‘cause Chunhua’s friend didn’t invite him to her birthday party?”

Junhui chuckles at Minghao’s worried expression and puts an arm around him to pull him closer. “Oh, stop it, you’re worried too much. He’ll be fine.” He leans over and places a quick kiss on Minghao’s forehead. “Plus, they gave him one of their extra gift bags anyway, so he definitely got over it.”

Minghao sighs, lacing their fingers together. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

Junhui smiles. “Of course I am!” he says, eliciting a groan from Minghao who stands up to return to his seat at the kitchen table.

“You’re such a nerd,” Minghao quips, picking up his phone so he can check his email.

“I know I am,” Junhui sings from the sofa. “While you’re on your phone, my dearest, could you please check our calendar to see if we’re free on Saturday?”

“I will if you stop using those cheesy nicknames,” he says back, but he opens his calendar anyway to find that they are completely available on Saturday.

“Great! I’ll tell Lianne that we’re going!” Junhui says, already opening up a new message on his phone.

“Wait, no,” Minghao stops him. Junhui shoots him a look.

“The kids,” he reminds him. “You know, _our_ kids. The ones _you_ birthed. We need a babysitter.”

“Well, duh,” Junhui says. “We’ll just get Joshua to do it.”

“Um, I don’t think we should,” Minghao reminds him. “In case you forgot, he’s got his own kids to worry about now.”

Junhui falls back onto the sofa. “Ohh, crap. You’re right.”

The last time Joshua had babysat for the Wen family was about a year and a half ago when Minghao was out of town for a dance showcase and Junhui had a teacher conference that he couldn’t get out of. Minghao absolutely hated leaving his kids; he hated not knowing how they were doing and he just really missed them when they weren’t around, and there was no doubt that they missed them too.

Fortunately, it had worked out; the kids loved Joshua and Minghao had felt at ease knowing he’d asked the right person to watch them. But now, they’d have to ask someone else; Joshua now had his twins, Jangmi and Yujin, to take care of, and the last thing Minghao wanted to do was put an extra burden on him.

“Aren’t Seungcheol and Jeonghan taking care of them too? I’m sure Joshua would be able to stop by for one night and watch ours.”

Minghao shakes his head. “I don’t want to trouble him. We should think of who else to ask.”

They banter back and forth for a few minutes, one suggesting a member and the other countering as to why that wouldn’t work out.

“Mingyu and Wonwoo could come by,” Junhui suggests nonchalantly. “All they have is their dog. I’m sure the dog can handle itself.”

Minghao turns to him, a look of distress on his face.

“Uhhh, what?”

“Babe, are you forgetting the _one thing_ our daughter is allergic to?”

In truth, he did forget. Junhui says nothing, only offering a lame shrug in response.

“DOGS!!!! Chunhua is allergic to _dogs!_ What if they come in, with _dog_ on them, and she gets an allergic reaction when we’re not here and she _dies?”_

Minghao looks like he’s about to cry over all the stress, so Junhui gets up and joins him at the table and tries soothing him. “I don’t think she’ll die, Hao,” he says, taking his hand. Minghao scoffs and puts his face down on the table anyway.

“We’ll uhh, not get Mingyu or Wonwoo then.” He pauses for a moment, thinking of other members he can ask.

Junhui says, “What about Chan?” Minghao looks baffled at this suggestion.

“Huh. I almost forgot about Chan.”

“You see him every day at the dance studio, hun.”

“Pfft, well _yeah_ , I do,” Minghao says. “I don’t know if he’s ever babysat before though.”

“Well, let’s see!” Junhui chimes, picking up his phone to dial Chan’s number.

He picks up on the third ring and Junhui turns on the speaker.

“Hey Jun, I’m on my way to the gym right now, how’s it going?”

 “Channie!” Junhui sings. “So happy you picked up.”

“Hey Chan,” Minghao says. “It’s Minghao.”

“Oh, hey guys! What’s up?”

“My lovely husband and I have a job for you.”

“Oh, really?” Chan says, sounding confused. “What is it?”

“Can you babysit Renshu and Chunhua for us this Saturday? We have a shindi-” Minghao gives him a light shove, mouthing “do NOT” and Junhui says “Sorry, _gathering_ to attend.”

“Hold on, I’m pretty sure I can, lemme check my schedule.” He starts humming to himself on the other end as Minghao and Junhui exchange hopeful looks.

“I can!” Chan exclaims. “I’m free all day. And night. Whenever you need me to come, I’ll be by in a jiffy!”

Junhui fist pumps. “YES! God bless you, Lee Chan. See you Saturday!”

 Chan laughs. “No problem, bro!”

 Junhui almost hangs up when Minghao grabs the phone. “Wait, Chan!”

 “Huh? What’s up?”

 “Do you own a dog?”

 “Uhhh, no. Why?”

 Minghao breathes out a sigh of relief. Junhui’s eyes roll to the back of his head. “No reason. See you Saturday. Love you man!”

 “You too! Bye!” And on that note, he hangs up. Junhui and Minghao high five.  From behind them, they hear the door open, followed by a little pitter-patter of footsteps.

 “Who was that, Daddy?” Chunhua asks while running into the room and onto Junhui’s lap.

 Junhui hoists her up and says, “Your Uncle Chan! He’s coming over on Saturday to watch you and your brother.”

 Chunhua gasps. “Really?”

 “Uncle _CHAN_?” Renshu bursts into the room. “Uncle Chan is the coolest!”

Chunhua nods. “The coolest!” she repeats.

 Minghao knows they’re only saying that because they saw him do a backflip _once_. But hey, at least they were reacting well to it.

 “And you guys are going to be okay without Baba and I for a night, right?” Junhui says, looking from one kid to another. “With just Uncle Chan?”

The kids exchange a look, and let out an enthusiastic “YES!” in unison.

Junhui gives Minghao a look, one that reads _see-I-told-you-so-they-will-be-fine_ and Minghao can only hope for the best.

 

________________________________________________________________

  


“Okay, and don’t forget, Renshu will only eat the dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets, and Chunhua doesn’t like ketchup unless it’s on the side-”

“Yes, I know, you’ve told me this like five times already!” Chan laughs, patting Minghao’s shoulder in attempt to comfort him.

Minghao nods nervously. “And you’re _sure_ you don’t own a dog?”

Chan blinks in confusion. “What kind of question is that?”

“Chunhua’s allergic,” Junhui says, coming in from their hallway. “Minghao thinks she’ll die from a reaction if she comes in contact with one,” he adds, switching to a hushed tone so that the kids wouldn’t hear.

“Ohhh,” Chan says, even though he still looks puzzled.

Minghao, who was dressed in a denim jacket, plaid shirt and khakis, looks over at Junhui’s much fancier ensemble of a white dress shirt, black pants and a navy blazer. He’s also styled his hair up, while Minghao just left it down and _wow,_ Junhui looks super good and fancy. Suddenly, his mind starts going haywire; it’s been so long since he’s gone out to a social event. Was he too casual? Should he put on a blazer too?

“You look really good, babe,” Junhui says, as if he could read Minghao’s thoughts. He gives him a smirk and all Minghao wants to do is tell him how sexy he looks but of course he can’t say that out loud; there’s three babies in the room (it’s been years, and he still considers Chan a baby even with his own actual, literal babies).

“So do you,” Minghao mumbles, trying to hide his blush. Junhui goes up to him and wraps his arm around his waist. He leans over to kiss him and Minghao swats him away, not because he doesn’t want him to but because Chan is standing _right there_ and looks visibly uncomfortable.

Chan looks around awkwardly and begins rubbing the back of his neck. “So, uhh,” he starts. “You guys are still doing pretty well I take it?” They’re still standing reeally close to one another, despite all of the space around them.

Junhui nods, looking slightly embarrassed. Minghao makes an uneasy cough noise and goes “Yup,” before pulling out his phone to check the time. He smiles at his wallpaper for a moment (it’s a family photo they took together at Christmas) and notices that it’s nearly 6:30 and they should probably head out soon, given they had a 15 minute drive to Lianne’s.

He gives Junhui’s hand a small squeeze and tells him they should go. Chan calls for the kids, who were in Chunhua’s room playing, and they immediately run out to bid their parents farewell for the night.

“Aw, you’re leaving?”  Renshu pouts, going towards his dads for a hug. “I hope you come back!”

 _Oh jeez_. “Of course we will, bud!” Minghao says as he lifts Chunhua up to kiss her goodbye. She takes her small hands and cups his face.

“Can you and Daddy come kiss me goodnight when you come home?” she asks, her eyes widening. “Even if I’m asleep?”

 Minghao feels like he could cry. “Yes honey, we will.” He turns to Junhui, who reassures her that they would say goodnight when they came back, even if it would be super late.

 They thank Chan once more before they finally leave their apartment and make their way to the car. Junhui gets in the driver’s seat, so Minghao goes in on the other side. He sets up Lianne’s address onto their GPS and soon enough they’re out of the parking lot and on the road.

 The drive is silent for a couple of minutes. Junhui turns to Minghao and notices that his face and whole body is tense. He gingerly takes his hand off the wheel and reaches over to pat Minghao’s thigh.

 “Are you okay?” Junhui asks, his voice full of concern. Minghao turns to face him and sighs.

 “I mean, I guess,” he says. “It’s just that we haven’t left them with a babysitter in over a year and I’m a little worried.”

 “Well, yeah, I can totally tell,” Junhui laughs. “You haven’t been this stressed out ever since my parents came over that one time unannounced.”

Minghao cringes at the memory. It was like a week from hell; Junhui’s parents paid a surprise visit from China a couple of months ago since they wanted to meet their grandkids. It was awful because Minghao hadn’t tidied up the apartment, nor did he really prepare himself or the kids to be good hosts. If not for Junhui working his charm the whole time, it would’ve been a complete and utter disaster. Minghao was on edge the whole week and he barely remembers what actually happened.

 “Don’t remind me,” he sighs, slouching down in the seat. They pull up to a red light and the car slowly comes to a halt.

 Junhui chuckles and says, “Yeah, yeah, sorry. But are you sure this is really all about the kids?  Are you just nervous about going out to a, and don’t kill me for this, a _shindig_?”

 Minghao thinks it over. It’s not like they hadn’t been out to a social event at all since the kids were born, but that was the thing; every social event they’d been to ever since was with other parents and their kids, so Minghao always had them as a common ground to talk about. Now he was out with just him an Junhui, to a social event with only adults and zero kids and now he wasn’t as sure of what to do like he’d once been.

 They pull into Lianne’s street and Junhui finds a space to park, conveniently only a couple of steps away from her house. Minghao goes to open the car door before Junhui stops him by taking his hand.

 “Hao, you mean to tell me,” he starts, leaning in so that their heads are nearly colliding, “that we’ve performed in front of thousands, probably like, a _million_ people throughout our career, and going to this one social thing is getting to you?”

 “Um, well yeah,” Minghao grumbles. He’s embarrassed, this really shouldn’t be the issue, and yet it is. Becoming a parent really messed up his social life.

 Junhui sighs and leans over, pressing a fleeting kiss to his lips. Minghao kisses back and tries to make it last longer, but Junhui pulls away and cups his face with his hands.

 “Honey, listen to me,” he dictates. “You’ll be fine.” He lets go and gets out of the car, leading Minghao to do the same. Junhui laces their fingers together and they walk side by side towards the house.

 “They’ll love you,” Junhui says, squeezing his hand tighter as they amble. A couple of steps pass and they finally arrive at the front door. A loud chatter can be heard from the outside, along with glasses clinking together and hearty laughter. Minghao takes a deep breath and goes to ring the doorbell. Before he does, Junhui leans over again to whisper:  “I’ll make sure that they all know you’re the best person _ever_.”

 Minghao glances over at Junhui who suggestively raises his eyebrows. He laughs even though he’s so _cheesy_ but now he definitely feels better; he can conquer this shindig like it’s nothing. All he wants to do is shower Junhui in kisses for helping him out (and more) but he’ll save that for later.

 Lianne answers the door a few moments after the doorbell is rung. She’s an older woman, a little in her 50s, Minghao assumes based on how Junhui described her to him (“she’s still got her hair, even though it’s kind of gray in some areas).  She smiles brightly upon seeing the both of them, and Minghao feels warm inside, as if he’s welcome, and he hasn’t even introduced himself yet. He notices that she’s wearing in a sweater and jeans, and Minghao feels at ease knowing he wasn’t the only one dressed casually.

 “Oh, Jun darling!” she marvels, pulling him in for a hug. She has her hands on his shoulders, looking at every inch of his ensemble and Minghao casually thinks _wow same_.

 “You look absolutely _stunning_ , my dear! I absolutely _adore_ this outfit on you!” Junhui laughs and they speak to each other in murmurs for a few moments before they both turn to face Minghao at the same time. He raises a hand to wave hi, and she grins back.

 “So, this is the famous Minghao that the whole staff has heard about for years on end?” she jokes, pulling him in for a friendly hug. She pulls away and places her hands on his shoulders, much like she did with Junhui. Lianne clicks her tongue and nods, almost as if she’s inspecting him. Minghao is confused, that is until she turns to Junhui and says, “You’re right. He’s as stunning as you!”

 She directs her attention to Minghao. “He talks about you _every single day_ ,” she says, gesturing to Junhui. “Literally, he will never shut his mouth over his sculpted-by-the-gods husband!”

 He feels himself blushing, and he looks over to Junhui to see that he’s doing the same. I mean, it was kinda obvious that he would talk about him at work, he just didn’t have any clue as to how much. And apparently, it was a lot.

 Minghao giggles. “Sounds like my Jun,” he laughs. He turns to Lianne and thanks her for inviting them to her home.

 Lianne shakes her head. “Oh please, it’s not a problem! Please come in! I was actually worried you wouldn’t be able to make it, I know you have your two little ones and all.”

 “Oh we wouldn’t have missed this for the world,” Junhui says, closing the door behind him. “Hao was just worried about leaving them with the babysitter.”

 Lianne turns to Minghao, taking his hand. “Oh darling, I totally understand. I worry about my son _all the time_ , even though he’s 24 and out of the house and making a life for himself.”

 “Oh gosh,” Minghao says, turning to Junhui. “Our oldest is 5 and I feel like he’s gonna grow up right before our eyes.”

 “Yeah,” Junhui sighs. “And our littlest one too. She’s already so _sassy_ , I don’t want her to get any older because who knows what’ll happen!”

 The three of them all laugh together and suddenly Minghao doesn’t feel as nervous anymore, now that he’s here and more at ease. Their kids were fine, he was fine, everything was fine. He was going to enjoy a nice evening with his husband and nothing was going to stop him.

 “Please, help yourselves to some drinks,” Lianne says, gesturing to the array of bottles and red party cups laid out on the table. “I’m going to go mingle with the other guests; it is a _shindig_ after all!” She pours herself a cup of what appears to be spiked punch and sashays away, leaving the couple by themselves. Junhui makes his way to the table, Minghao following suit, and he pours each of them a cup of champagne (because they’re classy like that).

 Junhui raises his cup. “To us, and our first night out with just _us_ , and not our kids,” he declares, flashing a smile. Minghao laughs and raises his, and together they take a long sip.

 “You seem a lot more comfortable now,” Junhui says, and Minghao nods. He grins back. “I told you that you’d be fine.”

 “Well, yeah,” Minghao replies, acting as if he’d never been nervous at all. “It was really nice getting to talk to Lianne and everything, she was awesome!”

 “I told you,” Junhui smirks, wrapping his arm around Minghao’s shoulders. “I hope you’re ready to talk to even more people, because the _entire_ drama department is here and they want to meet you!”

 Minghao rolls his eyes. “Oh God, there’s _more?_ ”

 Junhui nods, a pained expression on his face. He grabs the nearest bottle of alcohol and refills their cups, which Minghao gladly accepts.

 “At least I have this to get me through,” Junhui says, holding out his cup. “And also,” he adds, leaning in to Minghao: “I’ve got you.” He presses a kiss to the side of his mouth and Minghao cringes in response.

 “That was so greasy,” he says, but he takes Junhui’s hand anyway. “But yeah, you’re right, now let’s forget we’re parents with responsibilities and _socialize_!”

 Junhui lets out a whoop and together they go into the shindig.

 

________________________________________________________________

 

“About times you guys came back,” Chan grumbled as he opened the door. The time was 11:30, and they’d promised Chan that they’d be back by “give or take 10:30,” as Minghao had texted him.

It turns out it wasn’t just the whole drama department who’d been there, but the whole _high school staff_ , so it took them a total of _5 hours_ to speak to everyone, which they’d been able to do thanks to the couple’s charming personalities (and various alcoholic beverages).

 “Our bad,” Junhui apologizes. He reaches up to fix his disheveled hair and turns to Minghao to emphasize.

 “Yeah,” he mumbles, adjusting his belt buckle. In truth, they’d pulled into their parking lot at around 11 and planned to go up to their apartment right there and then; that is, until Junhui made a comment on how _hot_ Minghao looked which led to an intense make out session and then some. But obviously Chan didn’t need to know this.

 Chan sighs. “It’s alright. They were great actually,” he reports. “I uh, well, they went to sleep about an hour ago we watched like ten episodes of Pokémon.”

 “No worries, Channie,” Junhui reassures, giving him cash as a thanks. They wish Chan goodnight and off he goes, leaving them by themselves.

 “We should go check up on them,” Minghao says, snapping them back to reality. “Chunhua wanted us to kiss her goodnight.”

 “That’s right,” Junhui affirms and together they make their way to Chunhua’s bedroom.

The approach the door and they hear murmuring on the other side.

"Renshu, is that them?”

“Shhhh, I don’t know!”

Minghao turns to Junhui, and he simply shrugs in response.

“Hello?” Junhui whispers, the door slowly creaking open.

Minghao adds, “Babies, are you here?”

“We’re here,” whispers Renshu, peeking out from under the covers. Chunhua is laying next to him, and all Minghao can see are her two pigtails poking out.

“Oh, you kids,” Junhui sighs, kneeling next to Renshu. “You didn’t want to sleep?”

“Renshu wanted to stay awake,” Chunhua mumbles, stifling a yawn. “I wanted to sleep. But Renshu came here and I said okay, fine.”

“Yeah,” Renshu says. “I wanted to see you and Baba before I go to sleep.”

Minghao looks at Junhui, who looks back at Minghao with the poutiest look ever on his face.

“Aw, honey,” Junhui coos, pulling Renshu in for a hug. “You didn’t have to stay awake to see us, you would’ve seen us in the morning when you woke up.”

“I know,” Renshu mumbles, burying his small head into Junhui’s shoulder. “I still wanted to.”

 _Oh my God_ , Minghao thinks. He’s never leaving his kids ever again.

“Let’s all go to sleep now, yeah?” Junhui says, and Renshu nods while Chunhua had already been sleeping anyways. He kisses each of his dads goodnight and trudges off to his own bedroom, while the exhausted parents made their way to their own.

It takes about five minutes for them to change out of their party clothes and into pajamas, finally ready to turn in for the night. Junhui scooches over to Minghao’s side of the bed and slings his arm over his chest. They lay like that for a couple minutes until Junhui breaks the silence.

“Babe, I love you so much and I’m so glad you came with me,” he mumbles into his pillow. “But I also never want to leave our kids again because I love them so much.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” Minghao laughs, rolling over to kiss his forehead. “I love you so much but I definitely think we should go to sleep.”

He really wants to thank Junhui for convincing him to go out of the house and for being such a great dad and for being so _amazing_ even when he’s just talking to his co-workers and really, for everything, but he really does love him so much. But all he wants to do is catch some shut eye; he can save it all for the morning.

Junhui complies, rolling back over to his side of the bed. “Goodnight, Minghao, my love.”

Minghao smiles to himself.

“Goodnight, Junnie.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey did you guys see My I because I did and now i've died
> 
> hope to see you all again soon with a new chapter!


	4. It's a yes (pt. 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> News arrives in the form of a phone call. Anxiety ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hola hola! here's an update after what feels like a very long time!! this is another prequel to them actually having their kids and stuff. anyways, hope you enjoy!!

Minghao had done everything.

He’d made him his favorite breakfast (blueberry pancakes), showered him with kisses, and even let them listen to that radio station that only played cheesy love songs that he knew he loved. But nothing seemed to be working to help Junhui take his mind off things. 

He watched helplessly at his husband curled up in a fetal position on their sofa, with their huge fleece blanket wrapped around his body, despite the fact that their apartment was at a comfortable 75 degrees and that he was definitely wearing one of Minghao’s hoodies. 

He felt like he had to do something; sadly, all he could do was wait and make sure that Junhui was okay, regardless of the news they were bound to receive. 

Today, the doctor was going to call with the results of their pregnancy test. 

Minghao glances at the phone in his pocket, the bold numbers reading 10:22 am. The call would come around 11, she had told them. 

He shuffles over to Junhui’s spot on the couch, slowly setting himself down next to him. Junhui was in a fragile state, although it wasn’t like Minghao had never seen him like this before. It was times like these where he had to let him dissociate for a little while, and allow him to come to on his own. He’d spent all of last night tossing and turning in bed next to Minghao, and although he hadn’t said anything out loud about it, he knew that he was nervous. And frankly, he was too; this was starting to become more trivial to him and he hadn’t even noticed. 

Junhui wanted to have his own kid with Minghao more than  _ anything _ , especially now that he knew he could have one that was biologically theirs. 

Several minutes pass. Minghao checks his phone and the time now reads 10:47. Not much longer now. Junhui still hasn’t budged, so Minghao decides to reply to some work emails. 

He’s in the middle of writing out a strongly worded email to Chan about why they should absolutely _ not  _ wear hammer pants for their next dance showcase when he feels Junhui stir next to him, followed by a small nudge on his shoulder. Minghao nods and leans back as Junhui’s head falls onto Minghao’s lap.

“I’m sorry, babe,” Junhui mumbles, fumbling with the blanket wrapped around him. “I’m a ball of stress right now. Or a burrito. A literal burrito of stress.” He tilts his head to look up at Minghao, who’s been contentedly stroking Junhui’s hair.

“I know,” he coos, twirling strands of black hair in his fingers since he knows that’ll put him more at ease. “You’re just freaking out internally about this baby thing, I get it, it’s a pretty big deal for you, and-” He pauses, biting his lip. “It’s a pretty big deal for me. For both of us.” 

Junhui hums in agreement and yawns, nuzzling his head towards Minghao’s stomach, almost like a cat. “I hope Dr. Kang calls soon so I can go take a nap with significantly less anxiety,” he groans, adjusting the blanket wrapped around him. 

“Me too,” Minghao sighs, stretching his arms over his head. “You really kept me up last night. And not in the sexy kind of way.” 

He lets out a chuckle at his own joke. Junhui rolls his eyes and lifts himself off Minghao’s lap, shredding his blanket in the process. 

Minghao frowns at the sudden absence of Junhui on him; he was just starting to get comfortable. “Don’t leave me,” he whines, dramatically reaching a hand out towards the kitchen where he had ventured. 

“I just had to stretch my legs, hun, calm down,” Junhui defends. “Also, your mug is still out, d’ya want more coffee?”

Minghao nearly says yes, but all of a sudden the familiar sound of Junhui’s ringtone began to echo throughout the apartment. They both freeze and turn to look at each other. Junhui wastes no time fishing his phone out of his pocket, and he gives Minghao a small nod to relay that this was the call they’d been waiting for. 

“Hello?” he answers shyly, ambling back towards the couch. He plops down next to Minghao and sidles next to him. He takes Junhui’s free hand and gives it a small squeeze.

“Good morning Doctor, how are you?” he greets. “Oh wonderful, yes, thank you...Uh, yeah, he’s here, right next to me actually,” he says, shooting Minghao a quizzical look. He lowers his phone and hastily clicks the mute button. 

Minghao blinks in confusion. “What’s wrong?”

“Uhh, she wants me to put my phone on speaker so she can talk to both of us.” 

Minghao shrugs. “Alright, go for it.”

Junhui nods, beginning to fumble the buttons on the phone. He manages to unmute the call and turn speaker on in no time, and decides to place it on the coffee table in front of them. 

“Okay, Dr. Kang. We’re both here.” Junhui announces.  

“Hi doc,” Minghao says awkwardly, still not fully aware as to what was happening.

The faint sound of papers shuffling can be heard on the other line, before a voice finally chimes in.

“Great!” Dr. Kang chirps merrily after several moments. “Now that you’re both here, I should probably tell you the results of Junhui’s pregnancy test.”

“Well, yeah,” Junhui laughs. “Please tell me.”

“Please tell him,” Minghao pleads.  _ And me too. Tell both of us, spit it out already! _

Dr. Kang goes silent on the other line, again, and this time Minghao rolls his eyes. He glances over at Junhui, whose face was pale as a ghost. He leans over and quickly kisses his cheek, and Junhui gives him a small smile as thanks. 

“Sorry about the wait,” Dr. Kang finally says. “Busy morning. Anyways, I have the official results with me now…”

Minghao feels his breath hitch, and he feels Junhui’s grip tighten on his hand. This was it. They were going to find out right here, right now, it was  _ happening _ . This felt like a huge, pivotal moment in his life, and that was a lot for him, considering he’d had a lot of huge, pivotal moments in his life (Seventeen, finally asking Junhui on a date, marrying Junhui…) It all seemed to boil down to this moment. 

He didn’t realize he’d gotten so lost in his thoughts that he’d completely drowned out Dr. Kang speaking to them. He finally tunes in when he hears: 

“...once again, congratulations! I know you and your husband are going to make wonderful parents!” 

Minghao turns to Junhui, who’s at a lost for words; in fact, he’s crying, which he had failed to notice before.

“Thank you so much, Dr. Kang,” he says on Junhui’s behalf. “My husband is a little emotional right now, but will keep in contact with you for future appointments.”

“Of course!” Dr. Kang replies. “We will be in touch. Have a lovely afternoon, Mr. Wen.” 

“You too!” Minghao cheers, and he finally hangs up the phone. He springs up from his spot on the couch, and lets out a  _ woooHOO! _ He kneels in front of Junhui and cups his face in his hands, using his fingers to wipe away tears. 

Junhui gives him a small smile, and eventually breaks out into a laugh. Minghao feels his eyes begin to well up, and he leans in so their foreheads are touching. 

“We’re going to be parents, Jun,” he whispers, almost breathlessly, because he still can’t believe this is actually going to happen.

Junhui does a small nod, and wraps his arms around Minghao’s neck to pull him in closer. Everything felt real now, they were going to be parents,  _ parents _ to an actual  _ baby _ .

They stay wrapped up in each other’s arms until Junhui decides that they take a celebratory nap, and Minghao happily agrees. 

And together, they drift away into a fulfilled slumber, ready to take on what was in store for them next. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i used a line from my other fic two halves of one heart here!! ((which you should read if you wanna)) (i'm so innovative lol)  
> stay tuned!!! thanks for reading!!


	5. It's...a girl?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Junhui's colleague makes a hypothesis regarding the gender of his firstborn.
> 
> (spoiler alert: he's wrong)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a quick lil chapter for you guys! hope you enjoy!

Junhui breathed a sigh of relief as the clock finally struck 11:30am. Once the last of his drama students for the morning filed out of the theater, he wasted no time walking as fast as his pregnant self could to the teacher’s lounge, where the cushioned, moderately sized (also slightly ripped) loveseat was. He sinks down slowly onto the sofa, not wanting to disturb his baby bump, and at last a wave of relaxation flooded over him as he finally got to sit back after a whole morning of being on his feet.

Other teachers were present in the room too, sitting at the circular tables placed around the rooms or standing by the coffee machine to get their midday pick-me-up. Junhui knew he had to get up at some point to retrieve the packed lunch Minghao had made for him in the shared fridge, but he just needed a few minutes of sedentariness to regain some of his energy back.

He was about three months into his pregnancy now, and he’d announced it to the staff just over a week ago ever since he’d noticed that his bump was beginning to protrude into visibility.

He’d received tons of congratulations from everyone, even from his boss, Principal Lim (who was infamous for showing little to no emotion over anything whatsoever). Junhui had prepared his announcement well, having rehearsed it with Minghao as well as with some of his friends over Skype the night before.

One thing he _wasn’t_ prepared for however, was the influx of unsolicited comments that everyone seemed to have for him. In the past three days alone, staff members from all departments were approaching him to offer their own two cents on his pregnancy. And in this school, there were a lot of staff members; many of which he didn't quite know, even though he was on his fifth year of teaching.

“Hello Jun!” greets one of the teachers, who has just awoken Junhui from his power nap. He blinks slowly, trying to recall who was speaking to him, a gazillion names and departments running through his mind. This teacher was middle aged (the majority of them were, so that didn't help) had circular wire-rimmed glasses and wavy black hair, but he still couldn’t place him. Until at last:

“Oh, hi Eugene,” he returns, after finally remembering that he was speaking to Eugene Chae, the school’s German teacher. He’d only spoken to him once before this occasion, and that was to ask for more copy paper, and that was about a year ago, so this strikes him as a little odd.  

Eugene adjusts his glasses on his face before plopping down on the loveseat to left of Junhui, who impulsively places his hand on his stomach (to protect his baby, _obviously_ ).

“Congrats again on your little bun in the oven! I didn’t think it was possible for two men to concieve! You and your husband must be _thrilled_!”

Junhui nods. This was kind of weird, especially considering he didn’t know Eugene well at all and here he was, invading his personal space bubble and saying things about him and _Minghao,_ who he _also_ doesn't know well at all. Maybe he should excuse himself and get his lunch from the fridge.

 _Ugh, I can’t just get up and leave,_ he reminds himself. _That’s rude._

“Uh, yeah, we’re pretty excited,” Junhui tells him, forcing a smile out of politeness.

“Do you know the sex of the baby yet?”

Huh. Well, he didn't.

Junhui shakes his head. He hadn’t gone in for that appointment yet.

“Well, I’ll be! You know, I could be of some assistance,” Eugene says with a smile, and Junhui forces out a laugh because w _hat the fuck does that response mean_.

“You know, when my sister Haebin was pregnant with her firstborn, I knew it would be a boy from the way her belly hung out. And I was right!”

Junhui nods, slowly. “That’s…that’s great?”  

“You bet it is! I’m like, a baby psychic! Here, let me use my special abilities on you!” He leans even more into Junhui's personal space bubble to closely examine his bump.

“Oh, um, you really don’t need to,” Junhui insists, ever so slightly shifting away.

Eugene’s eyes shift slightly down to Junhui’s hand on his own stomach, and he stares at him with a look of concentration on his face. He raises his hand to scratch his chin.

“I think…it’s a girl,” Eugene decides. “You’re carrying quite high.”

Junhui looks down at his stomach. Of course _today_ , out of _all_ days, he wore one of his more fitted dress shirts. No wonder Eugene felt obligated to work his baby psychic magic on him.

“You really think so?” Junhui asks, deciding it was best to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Eugene nods proudly. “I know so.” He gets up off the loveseat. “I should probably get back to my classroom now, my kids have a quiz on the subjunctive tense in about a half hour. Nice talking to you! Get back to me in seven months when you have your little bundle of joy!”

“Six months,” Junhui corrects quietly, but by then Eugene has made his way out of the room. He sighs, and uses all his bodily strength to get off the sofa and obtain his lunch from the fridge. Eugene had been speaking to him for so long that the tables were cleared, so Junhui could eat his lunch of chicken and vegetables by himself in peace.

He takes his phone out of his blazer pocket and checks his texts. He grins when he sees they're from none other than his favorite person. 

From: Minghao ♡

hi babe, just checking in. how’s your food?

i made it with love <3 

Junhui chuckles, beginning to draft out a response.

 

To: Minghao ♡

hi honey!!

wen jr. and i are thoroughly enjoying our meal

From: Minghao ♡

oh right, i’m cooking for two now my bad

glad you both approve!!

how was your morning?

To: Minghao ♡

it was good

actually, the strangest thing happened

From: Minghao ♡

uh oh

did that sleazy teacher yang make a move on you again??

you're like, the hottest man EVER but he oughta lay off

To: Minghao ♡

lol no babe nothing like that dw

the german teacher, eugene chae, came up to me and told me we’re having a girl bc i’m “carrying quite high”

his words

i shit u not hao

it was so weird

all i wanted to do was get my food

From: Minghao ♡

wait

i have questions

how tf does he know that

and since when did your school offer german

explain

To: Minghao ♡

i have absolutely no idea to both ur inquires

i mean, he was a nice guy, he probably meant well??

From: Minghao ♡

hm yeah i suppose you're right

To: Minghao ♡

i’ll tell u in detail when i get home

sorry i gtg, class starts again in like 15 minutes

From: Minghao ♡

aw okay

btw i’m catching lunch w/ jieqiong in a bit

i’ll tell her u said hi

To: Minghao ♡

o awesome love that gal

can’t wait to hear about your day later!

love you <3

From: Minghao ♡

love u too :-)

Junhui lets out a sigh, pocketing his phone once more and wrapping up his lunch containers. He had a whole afternoon of classes left, and on top of that, a _meeting_ with the drama department after school, probably about their budget or _something,_ which would only make his day longer.

 _Oh well,_ he thinks. As long as he doesn’t run into any weird staff making comments on his pregnant self again before he leaves for the day, it’ll be all good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey! hope you liked this! i might write the lunch between minghao & jieqiong at a later date, but for now there probably won't be any updates for a while since i'm starting uni soon...they'll probably come sporadically for now! thanks for reading!


	6. What is love? (baby don't hurt me)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Renshu basically asks what love is, so Junhui tries to answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> also known as another gross chapter of jun thinking about how much he loves minghao, OBVIOUSLY

“Hey Daddy, can I ask you a question?”

Junhui looks up from his crossword puzzle, glancing down at his giant eyed five year old son.

“What’s up, honey?” he asks, pushing his reading glasses up the bridge of his nose.

It’s a typical Saturday afternoon in the Wen household. Chunhua was taking her usual nap, while Minghao was off teaching his hip-hop dance class, which usually meant that Junhui and Renshu had time to themselves.

“When did you realize you loved Baba?”

Oh boy, Junhui thinks. Usually when Renshu asked a question it was pretty general, usually in the realm of _why is the sky blue?_ or _why do dogs bark but wolves don’t?_ Never were they this deep or profound.

Junhui puts his crossword puzzle down on the table. That would have to wait for now.

He thinks back to the very first day he met Minghao at the Pledis practice rooms, all those years ago. To think that he had started out mistaking him as his own friend from home, only for it to blossom into something even greater than he could ever imagine.

He remembers their first dance practice with the performance unit. Junhui recalls watching Minghao dance for the first time and thinking how amazing he was, how graceful he was, and heck, even how _sexy_ he was. And several practices in, he remembers his big, fat, crush on Minghao that came into realization.

He recalls that fateful night after practice, where it was just him and Minghao, the last two at the end of a rigorous dance practice. He remembers Minghao, hair pressed to his sweaty forehead, hands shaking not only because of the work they had put in that day, but of nervousness—his big fat crush on Junhui had come into realization as well. He had finally mustered up the courage to ask Junhui to get a meal—something they had done many times prior as friends, but they both knew this time was going to be different.

Junhui remembers their first date at a McDonald’s, because they were pressed for time and it was the closest restaurant there was. He remembers what he wore that day, and especially what Minghao wore that day. He remembers laughter and heavily salted french fries and walking back to the studios hand in hand and stopping midway to give him a sweet kiss on the cheek.

It hits him all at once. There were a lot of moments that remind him of his love for Minghao— even the not as wonderful ones. He remembers Minghao supporting him through bouts of anxiety and stress before showcases. He remembers Minghao nursing him back to health when his colds hit, and he was even there for that one time he sprained his pinky toe.

“Well,” he finally replies. “To be honest, I knew for a while I loved your Baba.” Junhui lifts Renshu up on his lap, and stares into his eyes, eyes that are undoubtedly Minghao’s.

“Love is a complicated thing, see. Sometimes you don’t realize it right away. Sometimes it’s there when you don’t even think it is, and then it can hit you all at once, you know what I mean?”

Renshu nods slowly, taking all the information in. He has an inquisitive look on his face that Junhui knows all too well, one that gives the facade of deep thinking, only to come out with a less than scholarly response at the end.

“Oh, okay,” Renshu says casually. “I was asking because Jessica from school told me she loves me, but I wasn’t sure if I love her back.”

Junhui blinks in disbelief. His little man was breaking hearts already.

“Well, do you love her?”

Renshu shrugs. “I don’t know. I mean, I love Spiderman, I think,” he states nonchalantly. “I don’t know if I love a person the same way. Oh well.” 

He jumps off Junhui’s lap and goes back to playing with his action figures. Junhui figures this conversation is a thing of the past, never to be brought up again, probably. 

He sighs, deciding that now would be the time to return back to his crossword puzzle.

A couple minutes of trying to find a four letter word for picnic pests later, Junhui hears the familiar jingle of keys at the doorway.

“BABA’S HOME!” Renshu shrieks, followed by a wail that was none other than Chunhua being awoken from slumber. She sprints out of her room with vigor, into the awaiting open arms of Minghao kneeling by the door entrance.

“Hi honey,” Minghao says, placing a kiss on Chunhua’s head. He open an arm out to pull in Renshu, who had ran to his side in anticipation of a kiss of his own.

“Hey, don’t forget about me,” Junhui pouts, crossing his arms in protest.

“Teehee, Daddy is so silly!” Chunhua giggles.

Minghao smirks, slowly standing up to pull Junhui in for a hug.

Instead, Junhui grabs him by the waist and pulls him in for a passionate kiss, much to the dismay of their children who erupt into a chorus of “EWWWWW” and “STOPITTHATSSOGROSSSEWWWWW.”

“Well, hello to you too,” Minghao chuckles. “That was quite the greeting.”

Junhui winks. “Gotta keep the love alive somehow, baby.”

“You huge nerd, of course it’s alive,” Minghao quips, giving Junhui a playful punch on the arm. “‘Til death do us part, you dummy.”

Junhui laughs, placing a kiss on Minghao’s cheek. It's as sweet as the one he had given him after their first date, maybe even sweeter. 

“I love you so much, Hao. Don't you ever forget that.”

“I'd never. I love you too, my Jun.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M BACK!!! i had a great first year at uni but now that i'm home for the summer i can finally go back to all the fics i abandoned for months on end, starting with this one!! hope you guys enjoy this chapter! 
> 
> i'm just getting back into writing so there will definitely be more exciting ones in the future, so be prepared!! :) 
> 
> also, in case you were curious, the answer to jun's picnic pests crossword was ants lol


End file.
